Zach Arbogast came into the dugout after warming up Ian Hall before Saturday’s regional final baseball game and said he was happy he didn’t have to bat against the El Paso-Gridley left-hander.

The Reed-Custer batters, they had to; and they did not fare well as Hall fired a complete-game shutout in driving the Titans to a regional championship.

Hall allowed just four balls get to the outfield as El Paso-Gridley posted a 3-0 victory over the host Comets in championship game of the Class 2A Reed-Custer Regional game.

“He said he hadn’t thrown a shut out this year and was looking for one,” EPG catcher Austin Hendren said of Hall. “He had his fastball going right off the bat everything was working right off the bat.”

Of the four base hits Hall yielded, two stayed on the infield and another was a grounder between first baseman Dylan Steffen and the bag.

The mound was not new to Hall, who threw an inning in the semifinal round. EPG head coach Ken Colmone said that was by design. Hall pointed out it helped in being comfortable.

Hall’s control was pinpoint. Besides not allowing many balls to the outfield, he also did not give in to batters. He fanned five but the more impressive stat was walking just one — and that came with one out in the seventh inning.

“Usually that means Ian is keeping them off-balance,” Colmone said. “Ian did an excellent job. He told me he was as ready as he ever was.”

Hall added, “I was really hitting my spots. I was zoned in around that glove. I was confident if we could one or two runs I could get us to the sectional.”

The Titans gave Hall the run he needed in the second inning when the bottom of the lineup came through with a key base hit.

Fifth-place batter Drew Boring led off the second with a base hit to right. A groundout and a strikeout followed before eighth-place batter Josh Matzke blooped a single over short into center field.

Jordan Matzke followed with a soft liner to right that allowed Boring to waltz home with the game’s initial tally.

“I did a little lineup change. It was one of those gut feelings,” Colmone said. “As a coach you think here’s a senior (Jordan Matzke), maybe he can make a play or make something happen.”

Page 2 of 2 - The top of the lineup added a couple of insurance markers in the third frame to provide all the run support Hall was going to get — and more than he needed on this day.

Steffen ripped a two-base hit down the first base line and Hall was hit by a pitch, putting two on with no outs. Austin Hendren was also plunked to load the bases and bring an end to Reed-Custer starter Travis Schoonover’s day on the mound.

Brent Headrick came on in relief and was greeted with a grounder to deep second by Boring for an infield single. An error was added when Connor Anderson bobbled the ball enough to allow Hall to score from second base.

It was Hall from then on. He faced precious few challenges from the Comets. Only once did a runner get to third base — in the fifth with two outs. Reed-Custer had two runners on at the same time just twice.

The second time was the top of the seventh inning when the Comets had runners on first and second with on out.

Tense moment? Not for Hall. He struck out the last two batters for his eighth win against no defeats on the season and gave the Titans their first regional baseball title in the history of El Paso and Gridley baseball.

“We just could not get anything going with none out or one out,” Cougill said. “It seemed like whenever we had runners on base there were two outs. We could not get the big hit.”

EPG nearly got that first last year but lost to eventual state champ U-High in the final at Fairbury.

“It left the kids a little hungry,” Colmone said. “We knew we had the talent.”

Josh Matzke had a double and single while Boring added two hits and a run batted in for the Titans (20-3). Steffen doubled while Jordan Matzke singled in a run and Hall and Brady McWilliams each had a base hit.

El Paso-Gridley will take on Chicago Christian, a private school from Palos Heights, in the second semifinal game of the Seneca Sectional. It is set for 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Beecher and St. Bede in the first semifinal game on Wednesday. The title game is set for 11 a.m. next Saturday.